Sunnyside Rural Trust benefited from the help of a team of volunteers from Berkhamsted Waitrose to dig, weed and shovel at their Activity Centre site

As well as external competitions, Hemel Hempstead Movie Makers also, on occasion, hold their own events like the Open Competition.

In this case the term ‘open’ means a production on any subject – irrespective as to whether it be acted, animated or informative.

A good number of entries were submitted. Those members who did not enter, were the judges, and their marks added up.

The results were as follows:

THE WORKHOUSE by Andrew Pennycook.

HUNT THE BLUE CHAFFINCH

by Andrew Pennycook.

DACORUM HERITAGE by Paul Welton.

The Last two meetings for the current season of The Hemel Hempstead Movie Makers, will be on May 21 and June 4. The latter is the AGM. These will be held at The Hall Behind The Carey Baptist Church in Marlowes at 8pm. There will then be a short summer break before regular meetings resume in September.

You can watch the production which came third on the film page of the club’s official website www.hemelmoviemakers.org.uk

TRING LIONS

The Victoria Hall in Tring was the venue for one of Tring Lions’ main events when nearly 100 senior citizens attended an entertainment evening.

Some of those attending made their own way there, others were picked up by members of Tring Lions club. On arrival guests were offered drinks before the entertainment started. This year the Berkhamsted Ukulele Band provided the music and it was not long before the audience was singing along.

During the break sandwiches and cakes, all of which were made by the members of Tring Lions and their families, were given out to guests.

During the evening Lion President Mick Claxton had the honour of making two presentations. The first, a donation of £1,500, went to the Riding for the Disabled group at Rossway.

In accepting the cheque, Ann Nobbs thanked the Lions and mentioned that the money had already been allocated to replace old equipment.

The second donation, £250, was made to Hannah Dunsford , a student at Tring School, to help towards the costs of her World Challenge appeal. Hannah will be heading off to Marrakesh in the summer to help support local school children. Hannah (and her mum) also got involved in helping Tring Lions run the evening.

To find out more about Tring Lions visit www.tringlions.org.uk

Bovingdon and District Horticultural Society

The Society is looking forward to welcoming celebrated broadcaster and garden writer, Helen Yemm, who will be talking on the subject of, “Downsizing Without Tears”.

Helen is a regular writer in The Telegraph with her weekly column “Thorny Problems”. Helen will be talking on the discussion-provoking subject of ‘downsizing’ - including many wonderful pictures by Jonathan Buckley of her old large garden, (Ketleys – East Sussex), and the progress on her new village garden in nearby Wadhurst.

The talk will take place at Bovingdon Baptist Hall on May 22 at 7.30pm doors open from 7pm. There will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end and refreshments will be served.

Although tickets can be bought at the door, keen gardeners are advised to purchase their tickets in advance, as seat numbers are limited and this is already proving to be a popular event.

Tickets, £6 for members, £8 for non-members, can be obtained by contacting Shirley Masterson on 01442 832062.

The Society also has an evening visit to College Lake arranged for June 26. This will start with a short introductory talk, followed by a guided tour of the wild flower meadows, which should be at their best at this time of year, particularly the wild orchids. Non-members would be very welcome. If people wish to join us that evening, they need to be at College Lake for a 6pm start.

There is a small fee of £3 per person which goes directly to College Lake. Further details can be obtained by phoning 07504192253.

SUNNYSIDE RURAL TRUST

Sunnyside Rural Trust benefited from the help of a team of volunteers from Berkhamsted Waitrose to dig, weed and shovel at their Activity Centre site over three days.

Part of their focus was to help with the creation of a special garden at the site – The Memoir Garden.

Following financial support received from the Waitrose Community Matters scheme, and a subsequent visit by Dee Store of the Berkhamsted store, the charity was chosen to be the first to receive volunteering help in what is a new initiative for the partnership.

Staff were given time off from their normal roles to help with gardening activities at the charity which provides work skills in horticulture to local people with learning disabilities. Emma Matthews, from personnel, volunteered on the first day and found the experience a real eye opener saying: “It was an absolute privilege to be involved in the creation of the Memoir Garden.

“Everyone at the Sunnyside Trust was so welcoming and every Partner involved found it a truly rewarding experience. I have been approached by several more Partners already asking me when we can help again. Without a doubt we will return!”

Peter Finch, site manager at the Activity Centre was delighted with extra help at this busy time of year.

He said: “We are always grateful for all the energetic efforts made by our volunteers. It has been a real pleasure to work alongside the team from Waitrose and great to hear their compliments on the work that Sunnyside does.”

The Memoir Garden space is being created following the publication of a book of poems of the same name which was printed last year. The book was written by local author Emma Claire Sweeney and the poems created in collaboration with a group of our trainees to explore their memories and reminiscences.

The book has been an important step in helping our trainees express their feelings and make their voices heard.

INNER WHEEL CLUB

Fifteen members of the Berkhamsted Bulbourne Inner Wheel Club went to Telford recently to join more than 2,000 members of Inner Wheel clubs throughout the country at the association conference.

It is always interesting, enlightening and varied with a mix of reports, speakers and well known personalities. Jan Leeming and Monty Don entertained us with stories of their lives and achievements.

A spokesman said: “We all marvelled at the Home Service report which outlined the many activities undertaken by the clubs in the UK and applauded the total raised being over £1,150,000.

“A wonderful result which we all know will be put to good use helping those in need throughout the country and will have been raised in the spirit of fun and fellowship.

“This year is unique as we are celebrating the 90th year of Inner Wheel.”

The organisation was started in 1924 by Margerette Golding wife of a Rotarian in Manchester. There are now over 100,000 members worldwide in 103 countries. In order to mark the occasion all the conference goers attended a gala dinner in Telford dressed in 1920’s fashions.

On our return we attended the April meeting where the speaker was Dick Smith the Town Crier from Beaconsfield. He demonstrated his suitability for the role by his ‘Oyez, Oyez, Oyez’ which echoed around the room!

He wore his green tailcoat and waistcoat and black tricorn hat and regaled us with many stories most of which were very amusing and resulted in much laughter.

His proudest moment was when he performed in front of the Queen at the Golden Jubilee celebrations in Windsor. When at the end of his announcements he shouted ‘God Save the Queen’ everyone joined him from all corners of the town in his loyal greeting.

A spokesman said: “Dick gave us a wonderful evening of information, fun and laughter.”

The club’s next meeting in May will be our fellowship night where members of other Inner Wheel clubs are invited to join us in the spirit of friendship along with non members who are interested in our activities and charitable role.

ROTARY CLUB OF HEMEL

Do you have any unwanted tools?

If one of your spring cleaning projects this year is to have a go at your shed or garage, you might scratch your head wondering what to do with the unwanted tools cluttering up the place. Please, don’t throw them away – the Rotary Club of Hemel Hempstead has a better answer.

This weekend (May 17 and 18), the club is organising an Unwanted Tools Collection at the Homebase store in Apsley Mills Retail Park. Rotarians will be on site over the weekend with collecting bins for hand tools and professional quality power tools.

In particular, they want tools for carpentry, metal-working, car repairs and building work. Unwanted sewing and knitting machines will also be gratefully accepted.

Everything collected will be sent to the Workaid Centre in Chesham where it will be checked, mended or sharpened and made up into trade kits ready for shipping to training projects in East Africa. Your unwanted tools will mean the start of a new life for the people who receive them.

Collections will start at 10am and finish at 5pm on Saturday and will cover all the store’s opening hours – 10am to 4pm on Sunday May 18.

Phone Rotarian John Stevens on 01442 256886 if you want more information about this charitable project, which is being carried out with the kind co-operation of the Apsley branch of Homebase.

BERKO BRITISH LEGION

Ian Hooper has launched the “100 pennies for 100 years” appeal on behalf of Berkhamsted Royal British Legion.

This was his idea to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War on August 4 and is fully supported by both the branch and club’s committees as a positive way of commemorating the anniversary.

The Berkhamsted branch has already started to collect, but Ian is hoping the rest of the town will also support the appeal and he will soon be visiting all the local licenced premises asking for their support during the months of July and August.

All the money raised will added to this years Poppy Appeal.

TRING WOMEN’S INSTITUTE

Christine Brewster visited Tring WI with with a marvellous display of

baskets made from recycled materials.

A spokesman said: “From the traditional willow to cardboard, magazines, box ties, electric cable ,made into baskets of all shapes and sizes, we were amazed at her ingenuity – she can make a large log basket in a day.”

The next meeting will be on May 27 at the Memorial Hall in Tring at 7.45pm. The competition will be a spring button hole.

HEMEL SCOUTS

A whopping 87 young members of Hemel Hempstead District Scouts and 37 adult members are celebrating achievements in Scouting and Duke of Edinburgh awards, all in the presence of Dacorum Mayor, Cllr Penny Hearne.

Awards in Scouting start being worked towards when a child first joins the association at the age of six.

Working through the Scouting sections (Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorer Scouts), young members can achieve Chief Scout Bronze, Silver and Gold awards by participating in activities from programme zones such as fitness, community, adventure, promise, expedition and creative.

Last Thursday, 42 young people moving up to Cubs were awarded their Bronze award, 27 moving from Cubs to Scouts gained their Silvers, and 10 moving up to Explorers achieved Gold.

In addition, 20 adults collected long service awards, ranging from five to 30 years and a further 17 were recognised for their commitment to Scouting.

A very special honour was also presented to Jake Pass, 17, who received a Duke of Edinburgh Gold pin badge and certificate to congratulate him on the Queen’s Scout Award. This is the highest accolade for a young person to be awarded in Scouting, which must be achieved by the age of 25. Scouts commissioner Russ Dyble said: “I and many other adults in the room tonight have known Jake since he was six and have seen him grow into a very articulate, intelligent and passionate young man.

“What he has achieved and his approach to life is a credit to him and his family. He should be very proud of himself.”